Jamie Oliver’s Pappardelle With Beef Ragu Recipe (2024)

One of the basic rules of cooking is always double the garlic. Always.

The prep sounds good--except for the rather bare pasta topped with the ragu. Both need to be incorporated, no question. Add slightly undercooked pasta (still chalky interior) to the ragu, turn up the heat, and add a quarter-cup of the cooking water at a time while constantly tossing the pasta and sauce, until the water is absorbed and the pasta al dente. I also question pappardelle as the pasta choice; I'd go with a different, chunkier, ribbed cut to help the sauce cling.

I have had a Le Creuset Dutch oven all my cooking life - I bought a used one (no flaws) at 23 at a thrift store for .25 cents - and am still using it at 70! Even if one cannot find that sort of a steal, there are some, many actually, things that are worth the extra cost. They pay for themselves, 100x over...

Made this tonight and will be making it again -- delicious! We used San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes, and added about 1/2 cup of baby bellas for an earthy note that really complemented the beef. It was tough to leave leftovers for tomorrow :)

I see your point about cooking the sauce with the pasta for a bit to absorb flavors etc, but I don't agree with you on the choice of the pasta. Pappardelle with ragù is so quintessentially and classically Italian! I love the way the dish eats...and if it's handmade pappardelle, all the better! Mmmmmmmm!

I do not have a Dutch oven so put it in a crock pot after step 2. I put it on low for 5 hours, and did Not add any extra water. Used dried Rosemary and Sage instead of fresh. Delicious and Easy weeknight dinner for family busy family.

It's worth the effort and time. This turned out perfectly. Wasn't sure what the big deal was about a bit of orange zest at the end, but it made it something fabulous.

I have this in the crock pot, also added more celery and carrots, with the addition of oregano. I have prepared roast using this method and always turns out fork tender. Love serving anything I can using pappardelle.

"I thought you said we were having bolognese tonight," said my wife as we began eating, with a straight face and no trace of humour.
"Yes...we are," I replied.
"But this is bourguignon."
"No, it's a bolognese. A spag bol!"
We argued for half an hour over what this dish technically was as we ate. But what matters is we both agreed it was delicious; especially with the orange zest and rosemary topping. Can we call it a spag bourg?

Instant Pot Directions:Pressure cook for 50 minutes on low pressure. Allow natural release. When you remove lid, it will resemble a stew with a ton of liquid. Remove meat to large bowl. Mash remaining contents in pressure cooker and remove aromatic stems. Turn pressure cooker on to sauté function at high temperature and reduce liquid (20-25 minutes). Shred meat in meantime. Once the liquid has reduced, return meat. Otherwise, follow recipe as written. Orange zest/parm absolutely required.

my guess (mind you a guess) is that he used 14 oz cans of cherry tomatoes. I don't have access to 28 oz cans myself, so I would use the 14 oz ones.

If cooked in the oven, it should be uncovered for the last hour. Otherwise, it comes out quite soupy and needs to be reduced.

If using a pressure cooker, after 45 minutes, use the natural cool down method. Remove the cooker from the heat and leave the lid locked in place until the pressure value indicates it is safe to release the lid.

What is a "sprig of sage? I grow sage and all my "sprigs" are different. I agree with past comments that more definitive measures for ingredients, preferably weight - even if metric - are called for. It probably doesn't matter all that much here, but it does for many other recipes.

Made this today. Added a TBL. tomato paste; didn't add water to the pressure cooker b/c there was enough liquid in the pot for my 6 qt. instantpot. Set if for 45 minutes on meat/stew setting and reduced pressure naturally. There was a lot liquid in the pot at the end. Took the meat & large veggies out to shred, reduced the liquid by quite a bit and returned shredded meat & veggies to the pot. The orange zest imparts a bright note to the dish. Turned out great IMO.

Made in our dutch oven, in the 275 degree oven, lid on the whole time. After 3 hrs, meat was perfectly tender! We blended about ¾ of the veggies with an immersion blender and added back in. The sauce turned out fabulous and may have solved some of the soupy criticisms from other comments. Ate with fresh fettuccine pasta and parmesan - so good.

Needs mushrooms or other umami and a little sugar.

I made this in an InstantPot pressure cooker for a friend's birthday dinner and it was a hit. To address the common complaint about a watery sauce, I used a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes instead of the whole. This did the trick, the sauce was thick and perfectly seasoned. I also browned the beef, removed it, and sauteed the veggies separately, adding a bit of tomato paste a few minutes before adding the wine. Returned the beef to the cooker, added tomatoes, cooked at high pressure for 45 min.

I made this exactly according to the recipe and found it lacked the depth of flavor a dish like this should have. I realized (too late) that in the interest of being “quick” to prep, the usual process of a long slow saute of the onions, carrot, and celery (sofrito) is skipped. No wonder it was bland. An extra 15 minutes of sauté time would have saved a lot of good ingredients from the sad fate of being a boring dish!

This is so delicious. Made as written, just added extra carrots which everyone wanted more of. My family kept saying this is so good. That is not an everyday occurrence.

Used short ribs, skipped sage. Mix pasta into sauce to finish cooking.

I was very disappointed with this recipe. I followed it to the dot. Jamie is pretty dependable but this time I was disappointed. It was too winey and too tomatoey. The meat cooked perfectly but the taste was not as refined and complex enough to hit the spot.

lovely recipe, could use a bit more salt and or oregano.

I used the slow cooker. After depressurizing, it was quite soupy as others have commented. I strained the contents with a colander, then cooked the pasta in the liquid (needed to add ~1-2 cups additional water) until the pasta was al dente. This created a flavorful pasta and reduced the liquid at the same time. Combined everything afterward. It was delicious!

In the instant pot added mushrooms and purée the sauce.

Delicious, but I was very annoyed that at the top of the recipe it says time needed to make it is 1 hour, 45 minutes. Later in the recipe it says if you are not using a pressure cooker, you must simmer for 3-3-1/2 hours after prep and browning meat. We ended up eating at 8:30 pm.

For the amount of effort this was an underwhelming dish. If I tried this again, I would add some tomato paste during the sauté phase to deepen the flavor profile.

The oven temperature must be 275 Fahrenheit. Low and slow is the idea here. 275 Celsius (over 500 F.) would leave you with a blackened mess after the recommended 3-hour cooking time.

I always read the reviews and this sounded so promising. It was awful. I'm not a novice cook but to me this tasted like beef stew with some orange zest on top. Followed the recipe as is but won't make it again.

Great reviews at our house. I used about 1.5 lbs of top sirloin but otherwise followed the recipe. The orange zest, in my opinion, puts this over the top. The sage and rosemary were not what I expected but the subtle flavors were delicious. This is definitely a keeper.